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keplercryptids · 5 months ago

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I know this was posted like. a week ago. but as someone thinking of running a forged in the dark game I would love to see your homebrew xp mechanics

hell yeah! so let me start by saying, forged in the dark games (at least, the two i've played, blades in the dark and scum and villainy) are designed to be run either 1. in campaigns with a maximum of 12-20 sessions, OR 2. in campaigns where you're running through characters frequently and telling a story of the crew as a collective, rather than focused on a specific group of characters. so if you do either of those things, i don't think you actually need to tweak the xp.

i am a longwinded bitch lmao and i also prefer running campaigns that don't switch out PCs often. so the rapid xp acquisition of these games is. troublesome. i've actually very recently decided to simply hand out milestone xp (which is what i did when i ran d&d 5e). basically, every few jobs, when something narratively Big happens, i'll give the players [x] amount of xp. but! i did come up with these narrative xp rules, which i like and i'm having fun with, so for now, any xp the players accrue by making desperate rolls will be added to their narrative xp bank to spend in the following ways:

(under a readmore cuz it's long!)

Narrative XP

At the end of each job, the maximum amount of XP that can be used for character advancement is 50% of the XP gained that session, rounding up. This is called Advancement XP. The remaining XP is called Narrative XP.

When Narrative XP is spent to increase or reduce a clock, 1 XP = 1 tick. Personal Narrative XP can be spent on campaign clocks, personal clocks, connection clocks, long-term projects or resolving traumas, as described below. With the exception of campaign clocks, any given clock can only be affected by 1 Narrative XP, per player per session.

At a player’s discretion, Character Advancement XP may be spent as Narrative XP, with the same restrictions as above.

CAMPAIGN CLOCKS

Throughout the campaign, there will be clocks tracking organizations�� goals, external forces outside the scope of the PCs’ sphere of influence, or events looming on the horizon. During downtime, these clocks can be increased or reduced by the use of Narrative XP. This is almost always going to be a meta decision made by the players and GM, rather than anything the PCs are doing within the fiction (though there may be some exceptions - talk it out!). The progress of campaign clocks can also be leveraged as Devil’s Bargains during play. There is no limit to how much XP can be spent on a campaign clock per downtime.

PERSONAL CLOCKS

Each PC can accrue personal clocks, tracked on your character sheet, that reflect potential complications, goals, or outcomes affecting your character. During downtime, Narrative XP can be used to increase or reduce ticks on these clocks (maximum 1 XP per clock per downtime). To use Narrative XP this way, describe or roleplay a scene to illustrate what your character is doing to affect the clock in question.

CONNECTION CLOCKS

[note: this text is taken basically word-for-word from Beam Saber by austin ramsay - a really cool game i haven't gotten to run yet! check out beam saber if you're interested in sci-fi forged in the dark games!]

The crew sheet contains separate 4-tick Connection Clocks for each other member in your crew, representing your character’s relationship with that crewmate. Make a belief about that crewmate for each tick on that clock (checking in with that player when you do). When the Connection Clock fills, ask the target crewmate for a truth about one of the beliefs tied to them, then reset the clock to 1 tick as you see them in a new light. When a Connection Clock resets, erase all the previous beliefs you had about that crewmate and write a new one related to the truth you just learned—it’ll take time and effort to understand them again.

A belief is a brief statement about how a character feels about another crewmate. Beliefs are simple, quick, and influential in the rapport between the two crewmates. However, the players need to remember that their beliefs are not necessarily true as they are based on incomplete information and gut instinct. A good belief is:

Something a character might say about their crewmate to a confidante.

Easily summarized, so that it can be quickly remembered when relevant.

Potentially true.

Suitable for the game’s setting and tone.

Something the player is interested in exploring.

During downtime or free play, Narrative XP can be used to add a belief and tick a Connection Clock with another crewmate (maximum once per session). To use Narrative XP this way, your character must have a one-on-one scene with a crewmate, which challenges their perception of their crewmate, and/or shows a new side of them, and/or during which the characters bond in a significant way. After this, spend 1 XP to tick the Connection clock with that character, and gain a new belief (see above).

LONG-TERM PROJECTS

During downtime, you may spend 1 XP to add a tick to a long-term project clock (maximum 1 tick per clock).

RESOLVING TRAUMAS

[note: there isn't a way in the rules as written to resolve traumas, but being able to do so is important to me, so i included this as a way to use narrative xp.]

When you gain a trauma, start a 6-tick Trauma clock on your character sheet. During downtime or free play, Narrative XP can be used to tick a Trauma clock (maximum once per session). To use Narrative XP this way, describe or roleplay a scene to illustrate what your character is doing to work on resolving their trauma. Once a trauma clock has been filled, you may remove that trauma from your character sheet.

#jd&d #scum and villainy #beam saber #forged in the dark #ttrpg talk #dm stuff

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seeingteacupsindragons · 11 months ago

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Thinking about a couple things I've read in the last week or so and connecting some dots (maybe?)

The way online fandoms used to be what we would consider tiny. Like, 50-100 people. Gaining 10 friends/followers was an event.

Dunbar's Number, aka the number of people humans can feasibly hold in a single community and know each other personally and not need an actual communal structure to hold the community together

Nowadays, 10 followers isn't considered much because even smaller fandoms tend to have a few hundred people floating around. And those 10 people are liable to be lurkers in a way they probably weren't.

Anyway, as fandom's numbers exploded with new social chambers and larger numbers of people gaining online access and entering social communities, etc, etc, etc, no social structure was ever enacted, because people didn't think they needed it because fandom was basically just a friend group, yeah? Except you can't have a friend group of 2,000 people. You almost certainly can't even know them all.

Social structures feel somewhat antithetical to the concept of a fandom

But without that, at the sizes the fandoms are these days, any sense of community has completely broken down because there's just too many people for humans to actually interact with and know.

Because people are not emotionally invested in a community and other people, there's less interaction/less comments/more lurking, because it's not a community people are participating in, it's just stuff that's there.

And, small numbers of interactions mean less to people, because with an absence of meaningful interaction, it's just a number you'd like to go higher, like billionaires with their bank accounts, because there's so little meaning to much of it.

I have no idea how to fix any of this, or even if I'm right about any of it. It's just something that's occurred to me.

#fandom #community

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sterekchub · 1 year ago

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Jock Derek decides to get into the competitive eating game. Starts a YouTube channel. Gets some fans, who suggest crazy eating challenges. Derek keeps pushing himself to fulfill all the ridiculous challenges, but his stomach is so stretched out that he’s hungry all the time. Starts gaining weight. Slowly, his eating challenges videos just become mukbangs as Derek goes from jock to exjock to chub…and eventually Derek starts showing off his growing belly as he goes from chub to just huge fatty.

"W-Welcome ...*BBBRRRpp*... to Eatin' ...*blurrrRPPP*... w-with ...*BRRRPPpp*... Derek

10 Viewers "Hey...I'm Derek. I twisted my ankle during practice so the Coach benched me for the semester and if I don't play, I don't get money towards my tuition. So umm....I'm not sure how this works but my friend makes money gaming on his channel so I thought maybe....I'd start reviewing local restaurants or campus food or something."

You turn off the chat, disinterested. There's enough bad food ASMR and mukbangers online, he's attractive, but nothing special. You have better things to do than watch him fumble his way to unwrapping a Chipotle takeout bag like it was something special.

50 Viewers You find yourself back on Derek's channel a week later. He still looks uncomfortable in front of a camera. His room isn't even set up to stream, a bunch of random lights behind him and his dinner clearly on the desk next to him, 2 liter of soda and some Pop-Tart boxes. You're about to click away when the otherwise dead-chat pings:

Try the 2L soda challenge!

Derek nods and brings the soda bottle up to his lips. "Easy," he brags, suddenly much more confident and you get the aura of a cocky, self-assured jock. He chugs the entire bottle down within 2 minutes, waving the empty bottle in front of the screen and letting out a long burp. "Done. Damn, I need some pizza after that..."

He goes back to sitting there in mostly awkward silence as he scrolls on his phone, clearly ordering food. You leave the stream again. 200 Viewers You can't help it - you check back into Derek's stream. He's gained more followers in the last few weeks since you saw him and you see the last few videos he's posted all see to have a theme - Eating Challenges with Derek.

Looks like he's been eating well. There's more softness to his jaw and cheeks and the sports T-shirt he's wearing looks stretched a little tight.

"Tonight I'm trying the milk chugging challenge - one gallon in one hour."

The chat is more active than usual.

Got Oreos to go with that?

Derek holds up 3 boxes "not going to get through all that milk without them."

Gotta love jocks who eat like they're still training

if he pukes, I'm leaving

Bet he's done this before

Derek finishes 2 boxes of oreos and the entire gallon of milk, ending the stream reclining in his chair looking satisfied, hands rubbing his milk-swollen gut.

500 Viewers Derek has become your new favorite streamer. You're not sure if he knows the chat is entirely full of feeders egging him on, but he clearly loves the attention and is willing to do almost anything for donations.

"Thank you to *feedemup72* for the donation, tonight's challenge is $100 at Taco Bell." He points at several bags sitting next to him. "Actually $108 because I got 3 sodas, hope you don't mind."

Only his top half is visible as his streams, but in the last few months he's developed a curve to his belly that presses into his computer desk.

damn he's gotten fat in a few months

ii hope he does the donut challenge next

Derek slows down when he's three quarters of the way through. He shoves the last bite of a burrito into his mouth and groans. "Don't think I can do this one." He's got rice spilled onto the front of his shirt, and a few inches of bare, furry belly are visible where his bloated stomach is pushing his shirt upwards.

You're feeling reckless and type into the chat '$20 if you can finish 3 more burritos." You can see the determination as he leans forward to grab another from the pile, like it's the winning point his team needs. "Uggh I might burst..."

1000 Viewers "I'm getting a little chunky," Derek laughs, standing up in front of his computer with both hands lifting up his pudgy middle. It's not only his middle that has gotten thicker. His jeans look painted on and his shirt is so tight you can see the lovehandles just starting to poke out over his jeans. "Hope the coach doesn't mind. Got my clear bill of health for my leg so practice starts again tomorrow." are you still going to stream? Sure the coach won't mind you waddling on the field? forget sports, fatboy, you were made to eat! "This might be my last one in a while, practice keeps me busy. But for my last challenge- I got a cake to celebrate!" It's just a plain cheesecake, but Derek looks at it like it's better than sex. The little groans of pleasure he makes when he takes a bite somehow feel dirtier than watching him devour the entire thing in under 45 minutes. 3,000 Viewers It's been almost 6 months since Derek's last stream and you've almost forgotten about his channel entirely when you see he's gone live again. His follower count has almost triple and the chat is swarming with excitement at his return. OMG finally he's got to be 300 by now has he said anything no he's been eating for almost an hour! Think he knows he's live? Are you okay? You can't take your eyes off the screen. Derek has Chinese takeout containers in front of the screen and is digging into them like he hasn't eaten for months. The arms on his gamer chair are no longer visible under hefty love handles and his belly is fully resting into his lap by several inches. Derek keeps eating, double chin wobbling with each fast-paced bite, until he finally stops to reach for a can of soda. He drains it in one go and then looks at the chat, still shoveling food in his mouth as he talks "c-coach ...*mnfgghhhulp*... kicked ...*mmnnch*... me ...*chew... o-off ...*nibble*... de ...*gnaw*... team." I'm sorry too fat for the team? Look at him- he's not running anywhere! He hasn't stop eating What a fucking pig You have to know, typing in the chat. "$50 if you tell us what you're weighing in at." You watch as Derek scans the chat and reads your message. He finally puts down the food and stands up to show himself off to he chat. "Three-twenty-seven." From the size of his hips and ass as he turns, you would have guessed closer to 350. He looks upset, pinching and grabbing at the excess blubber that's thickened him up everywhere, but when he sits back down and grabs another soda, he almost looks relieved. "So.. guess I'm back to streaming. Any suggestions for another *gulp* *swallow* food challenge? 5,000 Viewers Doesn't look like a jock anymore he's a fucking blimp any ideas how to blow him up more bet he'd eat straight lard if we paid him fuck look at that gut Did he really just fall asleep? bet he wakes up and starts eating again You're $500 poorer- but looking at the size of Derek, it seems like money well spent. In the last three months, you've paid Derek to do the ice cream gallon challenge, the milkshake challenge, the donuts-burger challenge, and the carbo-load challenge. And you were also to blame for the current stream. Tonight had proven too much even for his monstrous appetite and he had needed a break, too full to even speak, just sitting in front of the computer groaning and grunting and burping, rubbing his boulder of a belly until his overstuffed moans had turned into tree-splitting levels of snoring. The last quarter of his fifth footlong cheesesteak (With extra cheese and meat of course), fell out of a pudgy hand and onto the floor. Derek had weighed in at 398 last night, and you impatiently wait for him to wake up rounding out the scales at over 400lbs of blubber. 10,000 Viewers

This stream was a special one. Derek had tipped the scales at a whopping 500lbs, reluctantly heaving himself out of his bench-sized seat to show off for the chat just where all of those pounds had piled on to. Face swollen with fat, his jawline completely obscured by chins and a tire-sized neck. Thighs wider than his former waist, and of course, the unmistakable belly which was not so round and lard-filled it rested on his knees when he was sitting. "Finally hit a follower milestone," Derek wheezed proudly, wiping sweat off his forehead from the exertion of just standing for several minutes and then collapsing back down into his seat. It creaked ominously. On instinct, you check his Amazon wishlist. Candy, funnel, XXXXXXXXL shorts, more candy, bariatric scale...huh. No bench. Guess he thought the one hw as currently straining was going to last longer than it sounded like. "So someone sponsored to me to eat a hundred-thousand calories, one for each follower!" You thought you misheard. 100,000? That can't possible be right. And Derek was popular sure, but with a niche group. You double-check and his follower count was sitting at 10,002. Confused, you check the chat. did he say 100,000!!? looking and thinking like a pig no one said jocks were smart That's going to take days think he'll realize? too late to back out, he took the money That's like 30 pounds of calories. No way is he going to do it! Derek was reading the chat and checking his phone in confusion. "I did...misread a bit there." Do it eat it 100,000 blimp he's gonna pop come on fatty, EAT EAT EAT! Derek still looks confused, but puts his phone away and smacks a hand to his belly. "I can handle it. Better start now..." You can't watch the entire stream, having to pull yourself away at some point to go to bed and go to work. You haven't missed much - Derek sits at his computer, struggling to his feet every few hours to get his latest food delivery he doesn't bother to turn off the livestream and everyone gets' a perfect view of Derek's swinging, wobbling obese frame as he slowly shuffles in and out of view. Even at night, he waddles out of view to go to bed but leaves the stream running, his snores rattling around the empty room and the only view the staggering amount of fast food containers thrown haphazardly everywhere. Think he'll reach 600? he's too fat to stop now he should eat like this all the time It takes Derek 2 days to eat it all. Even for someone used to all the eating challenges, Derek was eating with a frenzy and a determination you'd never seen. The chat kept his calorie counter for him, and he was absolutely struggling to keep on pace, looking like every bite was a Herculean effort. You tune back in, the afternoon when Derek is down to his last 2,000 calories in a bag of greasy burgers and fries and milkshakes. He looks bloated and fat in a way you've never seen, like at any minute he was going to just start expanding and become a fat filled-balloon the size of the room. His body was clearly protesting, Derek had to keep taking longer and longer breaks inbetween to massage his belly, although he couldn't fully reach around it. Gurgling farts and thunderous belches that chat kept telling him meant he had room for more. 100,000 calories. Almost done. Just a few more... Derek guzzled down the rest of his milkshake and looked triumphantly at his camera, eyes glazed over and face smeared with food.

T-Told ...*puff*... ...*BRRPFFBLTTT*... you ...*uhhnngh*... ...*thbbbt*... I ...*hmphhh*... ...*Brrbllpfft*... c-could ...*blurrRRPPP*... ...*Splrrpffrtbtlt*... do ...*BRRRPPphh*... ...*Frrrpffltbtt*... it.

#Ummm i was trying something new #let me know if it worked #or didn't #this is just me writing kink fic vaguely tied to teen wolf tbh

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sotwk · 4 months ago

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hello there! i'm curious: how many asks do you think you receive in a week?

Hello Anon!

It fluctuates by quite a lot! Ever since my blog gained a decent following about a year ago, the longest I have gone without receiving a single Ask was probably two weeks. But when I host an event which invites requests/asks (rare), a mini-flood comes in; my last event pulled almost 50 Asks! When I reblog an Ask Game (which isn't often), my lovely Moots always come through, and I get at least 5 or so Asks.

If I had to guestimate, I would say I average receiving about 3 Asks per week. All credit goes to the awesome and thoughtful Mutuals, Anons, and Followers I have--like you! :)

I'm also terribly slow at answering my Asks, even though I'm committed to getting around to all of them. So more credit goes to my friends for not losing patience or faith in me! :)

#sotwk answers #anon asks #i have the best mutuals #i have the best anons #ask #ask box #ask me anything #tumblr stuff

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man-down-in-hatchet-town · 1 year ago

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What's Up

Hello 50-odd followers I've gained in the last two weeks! You may have signed up for the Starkid content, but surprise! You also get me writing a full-ass response to the latest episode of Shipwrecked's The Case of the Greater Gatsby every week! If you haven't listened to it, please it give it a try. It's a hoot and two halves!

As ever, spoilers for Episode 11 (already??) under the cut.

First of all, I WAS RIGHT ABOUT THE LOCATION OF THE TAPES! This was a fairly basic thing to be right about, but seeing as there really are so many threads (lmao that SONG) complicating this story, I'm going to take the victories I can get. And we can't say it wasn't fun listening to Fig repeatedly fail at the not-so-simple task of getting Sheila to leave her own living room.

The real highlight of the episode, however, was Ford's interview with Vivian. My beloved Fightingale were back and in full force today, folks. Ford definitely feels like something's off with Vivian--though it's unclear if he's clocked what @katvantassel pointed out weeks ago about Vivian knowing that Fitzgerald was strangled before Fig or Ford could tell her. And her alibi is definitely sketchy--almost like something she specifically designed in hopes of making Ford uncomfortable or short-circuiting his brain. Also, the way Vivian and Mo say the details of that night out loud to each other sounds very much like they're concocting their story together then and there. It's interesting to note that Mo's corroboration explicitly covers midnight and afterwards, since we know thanks to Jasper Fox that Fitzgerald was killed in that exact time period. Could that even possibly be a coincidence? And more generally, are Mo and Vivian in cahoots? That would explain how Vivian prematurely knew about the asphyxiation, but would really bring into question why she needs Fig and Ford when there's a cop at her beck and call. Unless, of course, Barnaby is too powerful to be investigated by the police force, so she has to use our favorite detectives to frame or point the finger at her husband instead...

But then again, there's the Bixby angle to it all. If Mo really is trying to bring down Bixby, why would the bar's favorite performer be working with him? I suppose they could be two completely separated plot points. Or maybe Vivian's making a play to claim Bixby's as her own? After all, we do know she doesn't hold the highest esteem for Bixby's other acts... AHHHH. SO MANY THREADS!

Speaking of which, "Too Many Threads" was an absolute smooth bop, with cleverly meta lyrics, a tantalizingly pointed final verse (is Vivian taunting Ford?), and that perfect combination of Dylan Glatthorn's songwriting and Mary Kate Wiles' voice that we've come to know and love. Please release this song soon, Shipwrecked! I will buy it from you! (Bonus points for also including Clark's Cole Porter cover from last week!)

In other news, it turns out that Bixby, so helpful this episode in recapping all of the various mysteries and cases, was not in fact lying about his financial issues in order to cover up for the Brigade. His landlord, Old Bob, has been drastically raising the rent! Could this have anything to do with anything else, or is it just typically vampiric landlord shenanigans?

AND THAT CLIFFHANGER OF AN ENDING! Oh Persauds, this is the cruelest thing you've done yet. I can't wait to hear from Fitzy himself next episode!

#the case of the greater gatsby #shipwrecked comedy #fig wineshine #ford phillips #vivian nightingale #fightingale #mo beats #bixby

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cassieb1617 · 2 years ago

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Cam is ready in 1…2…3, go!��

Pairing: Avengers x camgirl!reader, Natasha Romanoff x reader, Steve Rogers x reader, Bucky Barnes x reader, Sam Wilson x reader, Carol Danvers x reader

smut

Summary: The newest addition to the Avengers had a small secret - when home, she was streaming at night. She was more skilled in hacking and IT so she was excluded from field missions while she helped them. But the Avengers had a secret too; they watched her.

Warnings: Smut (18+), degradation kink, praise kink, teasing from the reader, reader is a camgirl obviously, use of sex toys, masturbation (female and male), mentions of creampie, hint of daddy kink and miss kink, filming while in the act, squirting, kind of sex work, pussy slapping, dirty talk; kind of bisexual reader; language/swearing; usual level of violence in the MCU; the reader has hair but that‘s it from the description; pet names (honey, sweetie, sweet girl, doll, bunny, lovely, darling); degrading names (stupid whore & slut but it‘s meant lovingly); let me know if there is more

A/N: I got a bit carried away, sorry not sorry!

Working two jobs at once would sound difficult to some people. Especially when they thought it was being a cashier and a babysitter or something in that direction at the same time but you would say that it almost seemed to calm you down a bit. But that was probably because one of your jobs was at home and the other job was to sit in a chair surrounded by computers and hacking your way through the world while you flirt with your teammates.

You didn‘t know if it was the thrill of people finding out about your job or being filmed, maybe it was the comments or the payment of your watchers that got you off but nonetheless, you liked being a camgirl. After having a properly setup of camera, mic and a few toys, your followers seemed to rise a mile everyday.

Filming yourself for the first time was awkward and purely amateur porn-y. At that time, you just had a little bullet vibrator and filmed with your phone camera but your watchers liked it nonetheless and donated very gratefully. They enjoyed the innocent aura that surrounded you, which was ironic considering you filmed how you got yourself off. Over the time you lost some of your first followers the more dirty and experienced you got but some of the people that watched you were downright filthy. They liked the thought that they were the ones corrupting you and turning you from an innocent little college girl into a downright expensive slut. @widowknowsbest84 was one of your top viewers, holding a proud spot on your little whiteboard with the bright pink heart next to her name. She was one of the viewers that were very openly when it came to corrupting you, commenting the dirtiest and sometimes darkest things that would make the crudest people blush. She also sent you some of your favourite toys and donated a high sum of money every stream. You also had a lot of private shows with her in which she cruelly tortured you with as man orgasms as you could handle.

Another one of your highest viewer was @grantsr11. He was more on the sweet sight of your followers, always praising you and calling you his good girl. He wasn‘t one to donate a lot but at least $50 were in every stream. He also booked a private session every week.

You‘ve been streaming for a little over two years now and gained a lot of loyal followers over the time, 64,092 to be exact and every single one distinguishes them from another. Your audience truly was a variety of many different people. From women and men to people who identified themselves differently. Submissives, switches and dominants were in your streams too, demanding the filthiest things from you or thanking the gods for your streams in the comments. The age is also something you were surprised to see when you looked into the statistics of your account. Some of your viewers counted as seniors while others were just of age or even middle-aged people, you had them all.

Now, that was your first job but it was your second job that got you into a more awkward situation, at least for your coworkers.

It started off when you graduated college. You started working with a firm in the department of IT knowledge. Your task there was to safe intel and information for your company via hacking or in short; hack the hacker that tries to hack the company. And you were good at what you‘re doing, that and your school history is what brought Nick Fury to you in the first place. You were what some would call a genius, you had a high IQ and skipped two years in middle school. Your teachers thought you would become the next big astrophysicist but no, you rather wanted to do something with computers and with your hacking history, you caught the attention of SHIELD.

In the time span of two months, you got transferred from your old job to your new one as an Avenger, but one behind the scenes. While, yes, Tony Stark had his AI Friday, you were sometimes a bit quicker which he would be forever angry about. You knew what you had to look out for and you were always quick to inform the team over comms if there were agents on their way to them. You were responsible for the safety of the team while they were on field missions and it was quicker when they had to save some documents from the other agenda. Instead of needing hard-drives now, they just turned on the device and you hacked into it and saved everything you could get your hands on. You also talked to them while on missions, occasionally flirting with a few of them.

But back to why the jobs combined made the situation a bit more uncomfortable. Considering your skills in hacking, you also managed the Avengers‘ safety. Simple things such as making sure they weren‘t hacked and putting up firewalls to assure nothing would happen. But as you did your job, you also had to check their intel and, wow look at that, what a surprise that one of your top tippers was none other than Natasha Romanoff or your probably sweetest dom per private shows, Captain Steve Rogers. You even saw some other team members following you but you wanted to wait until you see when they start commenting things.

When you got introduced to Steve, one of the team‘s leaders and one of your favourite viewers, he flushed a deep red, coughing awkwardly and he couldn‘t look you into your eyes. Maybe that was because after your stream the day before, you expressed your fears over your new job. You had a private session with him where you took a thick plastic cock and squirted directly into the camera while he came in thick spurts of white cum.

In fact, almost all of your followers turned coworkers seemed to have a similar upon seeing you. They had seen your streams and some of them stayed for you pillow talks after the real show as well. They‘d listened to you rambling and worrying about what your coworkers would think of you and if you‘re going to do a good job there. Upon seeing you, Natasha raised her brow with a small smirk, you never saw her face in private sessions but you‘ve seen her body and the bottom part of her hair and compared to the Black Widow, it looked to be the same person.

Full respect to her though, she had a very nice body.

Fast forward a few months into the job and it couldn‘t be better. The Job developed a whole new routine but you can‘t complain. You woke up at the same time, went to work for nine hours that included training with Natasha, Steve, Sam and Bucky and after that, you were in your office and working on the Avengers‘ safety. After work, you went home and in every three afternoons, you streamed just like you planned to do now.

The camera was already set up and your followers already got a notification.

Bunny 🐰 is going live any moment now!

The numbers of people that already joined the live rose from moment to moment and you took off the oversized shirt you wore. Underneath the shirt, you wore a deep red laced bodysuit. The neckline was deep and your nipples could be seen through the bra cups. A pink vibrator and a dildo sat by your side just out of screen. The colour of the dildo matched your bodysuit and you could already see the comments because of that from your followers. Your hair was go framing your face.

The loading screen of ‘Bunny 🐰‘s stream is loading…‘ turned into a countdown of 3… 2… and there you were, gracefully sitting on your knees in your bed.

„Hi guys!“ you giggled lightly and the chat started to flood with various comments, some already demanding you to start and some sweetly greeting you. „Look at my new set, isn‘t it so pretty?“ You stood on your knees and turned a bit to show off the lacey sides of the little thing you wear. Some comments were smalltalk as well like @widowknowsbest84‘s comment. Ever since finding out that her favourite camgirl is her new teammate, she decided to tease you a bit.

@widowknowsbest84: How is my favourite bunny doing, lovely? How is your job doing?

„I‘m great, miss, how are you? And my job‘s going great, I‘m working with some really sweet people.“ you giggled slightly, something you do a lot while streaming but your viewers loved it, plus it added to your innocent/corrupted act. But Steve knew better, he heard you flirting through the comms on missions, especially with him and Natasha.

You continued a few minutes with small talk, reading comments about your viewers last days and how they‘re doing. In that time, you often got donations from those who are on these platforms in need of company instead of getting off. „I got a bit of an surprise for you guys.“ you turned to the side where your vibe and the red fake cock sat, shaking your body a bit when you knew that your ass is in perfect view. You grinned and bit your lip a bit when you showed them the new red toy you got yourself as a treat after a hard mission. „Look! It has such a nice size and girth but I‘m scared it will be too thick for me, y‘know I can‘t take this much.“ you had a slight pout on your face as you said that and your followers bought the whole act like Tony Stark buys cars.

@grantsr11: Look how excited she is, new set matching her new toy, aren‘t you such a good girl, honey?

@soldier41: come on, doll, push that pretty set aside and show us how you take your new toy.

„Is that what you want me to do, Soldier? Want me to get dumb already?“ your cute pout can never be replaced with anything else. The curve of your lips is just too sweet not to get hard and wet at. „Thank you, Grant! I love being your good girl, makes streaming much more fun.“ You continued teasing the viewers a bit until you started obeying the comments of pleas to finally stop teasing.

Laying down on the mountains of pillows, you spread you legs while getting comfortable, a noticeable dark spot on the bottom part of your body. „I‘m so excited to test that toy out, read good things about that online and I was so excited when my package finally arrived.“ you pushed the crotch part of the bodysuit to the side and rubbed the tip of the dildo on your slit while talking. The comments seemed to appreciate your teasing.

@daddyfucksgood6969: Come on honey, get that thing all nice and wet for us, show us how it makes you feel

@sugarysweetmom: Oh honey, look at you already so wet and we‘re just getting started

@sugarysweetmom was another good tipper of you. From chatting, which she obviously paid for, you knew that she was a single mom of two who had later in her marriage realised that she was into women. Sometimes your watchers confided in you and while they knew you couldn‘t really help them, they just liked to have s person they could talk to, even better that the person is pretty.

When you read @daddyfucksgood6969‘s comment, you pulled the red toy away from you and held it to the camera, your arousal glistening in the lights in front of you and giving your viewers the perfect sight of it. Everytime you used toys, you always showed them how wet it made you by holding the toy in the camera before you properly used it. Your tips always increased a lot in that time and currently with about 35.000 viewers in your stream, your tips were at-

looking at the tips you took a double look at the high number. $389.70 was it by now and you only streamed about half an hour now. This stream could top every other stream you ever did and you once did a stream for two and a half hours where you got tipped about $1200.

God, you were so happy that your face wasn‘t in public. In fact, the world only knew of „the rose“ as an Avenger but they could never place a face to that name.

You laid back down on the bed and sighed out when you lubed the toy more with your own arousal. It was a funny thing, no matter how thick the toy was, you never use lube. Steve- sorry, @grantsr11 had noticed that before and spoke to you about it on a private call before you two.

The man on the other line of your call sighed out while watching you use his favourite toy. It wasn‘t very long (just) about 6 inches but it was thick, very thick. The toy was wet with your arousal but that was it and Grant, that‘s what he told you to call him, noticed. „Why do you never use lube, honey?“ his hand was around his cock, slowly rubbing up and down.

„Don‘t like lube very much, like the pain more when the toy stretches me out.“ your voice was airy and you were already a bit dumb on the session. He find you the best that way if he was being honest with himself. All dumb, pretty and submissive. That bratty side of yours that sometimes showed in your streams. „Like the feel of a cock stretching me out so much.“ 'Grant' groaned out lowly when you said that, stroking himself faster. He watched with hooded eyes as you pushed the toy into your wet pussy, your gasp of slight pain and pleasure being the only sound that‘s heard. Your eyes rolled to the back of your hand as you pushed the toy deeper, moaning pornographically when you reached the hilt of it. „Fuck, doll, you‘re killin‘ me here.“ the hand around his cock tightened before he came all over his chest while watching you take that thick blue cock. He continued watching you as you came all over the thick toy.

Snapping back to reality from the memory of your private session with him, you noticed the comments.

@callmehoneysweetheart: You okay there, darling? Looking a little lost and spacey

@widowknowsbest84: Are you all spacey again, lovely? You getting dumb from a little grinding already?

@bestoneoutthere: You back here or still all airy?

You giggled shyly, „sorry guys, been thinking of the time I took a really thick toy, it was so nice.“ You didn‘t even notice that you were grinding against the length of your red toy before you sighed out. „I‘m back again, I‘m sorry.“ You cheeks heated a bit like they did every time you spaced out. It happened quiet a lot of times in your streams, you‘d get all lost in a little memory and by now, your regulars were used to it, even enjoyed it. The way you turned so stupid and noisy, like a little bitch in heat. That was their words actually and it stuck with you ever since.

@grantsr11: No need to apologize, honey. You‘re doing a great job, so pretty when you get all dumb.

@soldier41: All good, doll. Now be a good girl and show us the way you‘d take a real cock.

@notmadeofstonebutstillrockhard: Yeah, don‘t wanna get punished now do you?

You fuzzy little brain couldn‘t grasp that they didn‘t mean everything they wrote in the comments but little airheaded you didn‘t want a punishment, especially in that little headspace you are in again. „No, daddy! Don‘t punish me, please. I‘m gonna take it now, promise you.“ It‘s almost embarrassing how wet you are, slick coating the toy and your inner thighs, making the toy even easier to slip in. You gasped dumbly when you lined the tip of the fake dick up with your pussy, slowly sinking it in before pulling it out again to change positions. You switched from laying on your back to kneeling on your bed again, the sheets where you once sat being a few shades darker. Lining the toy up again, you slowly made your way downwards, sinking inch after inch down until all they could see was the red base of the toy.

You moaned loudly when you sinked down all the way, the fake cock kissing all your nice places. Beginning to lift your hips again, just until only the tip is inside you, you sinked down on the toy again, the sound you were making something between a painful sob and a pleasurable moan. You look straight into the camera while repeating the action, the comment section going wild at you.

@daddyfucksgood6969: Isn‘t she just the prettiest when she‘s fucking herself dumb? Such a stupid whore

@widowknowsbest84: Oh honey, aren’t you just such a sight for sore eyes?

@soldier41: Come on, doll, you can do more, can‘t you?

@callmehoneysweetheart: I‘m so glad I found your streams, you‘re truly worth every penny, sweetie

The comments flooded in like a tsunami, so fast you couldn‘t read all of them but you nodded dumbly at them anyway, agreeing with whatever they were saying about you. Slowly leaning forward while still riding the red fake cock, you grapped your pink vibrator and looked at the camera while licking it. The chat going wild at your actions and many screen recorded your stream to post it on Twitter. You rubbed the smaller toy against your pussy to wet it a bit and turned it to the slowest setting while holding it against your clit, a sharp gasp escaping your body at the feeling. „Oh my god!“

You started grinding desperately against the toys, switching between different sections of the vibrator that had you going crazy and bouncing up and down on your newest addition of ”pleasure helpers“ as you liked to call them. Your actions grew more frantic and the ones who watched you already a bit longer knew that this was when you were close. The sounds of tips clinging in your ears as you bounced faster and set the vibrations as high as possible, holding it tightly against your clit while grinding into it. A few uh, uh, uh‘s escaping your lips before you drew in a sharp breath and closed your eyes. Your juices squirting onto the toy under you as you kneeled above the toy, hips in the air and leaning on one arm behind you to give your followers the best view possible. The pink vibe was already on top of your now wet sheets, still moving a bit around as your other hand quickly slapped your pussy, more juices gushing out of you as you came down from your high.

@soldier41: Oh, fuck. That was so hot!

@grantsr11: Oh, sweet girl, you‘re treating us with this. Such a good girl!

@widowknowsbest84: Aren‘t you just the prettiest little thing? Coming so beautiful, wanna taste you so bad, lovely

@notmadeofstonebutstillrockhard: You‘re the very best there is, Bunny!

@daddyfucksgood6969: wish she would do that on my face

@callmehoneysweetheart: oh I just know that little pussy tastes better than anything else!

@bestoneoutthere: such a hot fucking thing! You‘re amazing Bunny!

Slowly coming down from your high you turned off the vibrator, cheeks feeling heated as you realised it was still on. The red new toy under you laid now on the bed and you put it to the side, your freshly put sheets are already ruined again. „That was nice.“ you giggled cutely after you found your voice again, ducking your head a bit at the dirty comments that praised and degraded you at the same time. „I think I‘ll pass out if I come once more so I‘m gonna end the stream soon guys! Don‘t forget to follow me on here and in my bio is a list for more content such as pictures, videos, chatting and private sessions, videocall or not. It was nice having you all again!“

You looked at the statistics of your streams after your ritual goodbye to the ones who only stayed for the steamy part of your stream and your eyes widened at the numbers that it showed you.

Top tipper: @widowknowsbest84

Top 3 viewers: @soldier41, @grantsr11, @widowknowsbest84

Your tips/donations: $1829.00

Number of viewers: 270.678

„Oh, and thank you to the top tipper, widowknowsbest84, I appreciate it very much thank you, and thank you everybody else who donated. Hello to every newcomer!“ You were bashful at the numbers, never once where they that high! And to think that you didn‘t even do the streaming for money anymore but rather for fun is incredible. Thank God, no one knows you‘re an Avenger.

@soldier41: Bunny, don‘t forget to change your board, don‘t wanna have to spank your ass red after that show.

„Oh, right! I‘m sorry, Daddy, please don‘t spank me!“ You kneeled and turned on your bed to the small white board on the wall that you out up for your streams. It‘s not that big, just barely portable but it was a nice feature. You had special coloured markers for it; pink and red ones and blue and purple and they were all so pretty! You remembered the adorable reaction from your sweet followers when you first showed them the board. Now it‘s routine that at the end of your streams, while you‘re doing your pillow talk and self-aftercare, you update and check the board.

Bunny’s top tipper: @soldier41 @widowknowsbest84

Bunny’s top viewers: @callmehoneysweetheart @soldier41 @grantsr11 @widowknowsbest84

BUNNY LOVES ALL OF HER VIEWERS!!

🐰❤️

This was all written on your board, small bunnies, hearts and stars around the edges to give it more of an innocent flair. Well, that is if you can still say innocent after that show you just out on.

„Sorry callmehoneysweetheart and soldier41, you‘re not the first place anymore but I still love you lots and lots!“ You had a tired but soft smile on your face as you sit back down on your knees, exhaustion creeping up more and more as you talked to your slowly decreasing audience before you call it a night and end the stream, saving it and uploading it to your channel for the ones who missed it.

Sometimes you wondered if Steve, Natasha, Sam, Carol and Bucky even knew they were all watching you, sometimes even at the same time.

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deadcactuswalking · 26 days ago

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REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 09/11/2024 (The Weeknd & Anitta, Tyler the Creator)

Gracie Abrams snabs her first UK #1 this week with “That’s So True”, which just two weeks ago debuted at #19 and is now, thanks to special discounted sales, topping the chart, usurping Gigi Perez’s “Sailor Song” after just one week. As for what’s below, we have a cooler week so welcome back to REVIEWING THE CHARTS!

content warning: language, references to sex, weapons, daddy issues and prostitution

Rundown

As always, we start the episode with our notable dropouts, those being songs exiting the UK Top 75, which is what I cover, after five weeks in the region or a peak in the top 40. This week, we bid adieu to not only all of the Halloween tracks, which aren’t really worth listing – you know them all by now and they’ll be back last week next year – but also a set of duos: Liam Payne’s solo cuts, “For You” (Fifty Shades Freed) with Rita Ora and “Strip that Down” featuring Quavo, two tracks falling victim to arbitrary UK chart rules: “Noid” by Tyler, the Creator and “Pink Pony Club” by Chappell Roan, more on those later, and Coldplay having both “WE PRAY” with Little Simz, Burna Boy, Elyanna and TINI and “feelslikeimfallinginlove” drop off this week. Other than that, we say our farewells to “Mantra” by JENNIE and “You & Me” by Disclosure featuring Eliza Doolittle: a lot of good songs making their exits this week, sadly.

Now, what’s making up for all that? We have a few gains and four strong new entries to pick through later in the episode. As for our returns… well, it’s a slow week in November, meaning we begin our annual thawing of Christmas music, starting with “Last Christmas” by Wham! at #61 and “All I Want for Christmas is You” by Mariah Carey at #58. From this point on, these episodes may be shorter and forcedly more festive. We also see a spike in older tracks returning once again, amidst some newer tracks, with the list as follows: “Dreams” by Fleetwood Mac at #75, “Belong Together” by Mark Ambor at #72, “Yellow” by Coldplay at #71, “Scared to Start” by Michael Marcagi at #70, “Iris” by the Goo Goo Dolls at #68, “Mr. Brightside” by The Killers at #67, “NEW DROP” by Don Toliver at #64 and perhaps most notably, “labour” by indie-folk one-hit-wonder Paris Paloma at #62. It peaked at #29 in 2023 the same week Ed Sheeran’s “Eyes Closed” debuted at #1, and due in part to its feminist themes, as well as fitting a wave of more emotionally open folk-pop from women on the charts, it has had a resurgence that I can’t really complain about – I didn’t remember the song but on relisten, I still like it, perhaps more than I did back then. Turns out in my old review for it that I almost predicted a similar trend to what is actually happening on the charts right now with a larger focus on organic, 2010s-resembling indie and folk-pop having a larger moment. Maybe I don’t always bullshit my way through these episodes – and, hey, she still has the time to launch a second track on the charts, it’s an opportune time for her.

There are some noteworthy gains here too, many of which have also been here a while, such as “Riptide” by Vance Joy at #65, unfortunately, “Slow it Down” by Benson Boone at #60, “The Days” by Chrystal at #55, “The Sound of Silence” by Disturbed at #54, “What Makes You Beautiful” by One Direction at #53, “I Only Smoke When I Drink” by nimino at #52, “TOO COOL TO BE CARELESS” by PAWSA at #51, “Burning Down” by Alex Warren at #50, “Heavy is the Crown” by Linkin Park at #49, “Don’t Dream it’s Over” by Crowded House at #48, “I Had Some Help” by Post Malone and Morgan Wallen at #46, “Austin (Boots Stop Workin’)” by Dasha at 42, “Close to You” by Gracie Abrams at #41 (she’s really having a moment right now and it’s beyond me as to why), then “Stargazing” by Myles Smith at #29, “The Emptinesss Machine” by Linkin Park at #28, “Lose Control” by Teddy Swims at #26, “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” by Shaboozey at #25 – I will say that sometimes it’s disheartening to see so many long-term hits rebound just as there should be a winter shake-up. Not that the newer tracks are any fit to replace them, with “Timeless” by The Weeknd and Playboi Carti at #21, sigh, but also “Bad Dreams” by Teddy Swims at #15 as he grabs a second top 10 with “The Door” at #8, a song that has grown on me a lot since my review, and finally, just on the cusp of that region is Billie Eilish’s fantastic “WILDFLOWER” at #11, which I think will be able to make it there in the next few weeks.

In terms of our top five, we already know about Gracie and Gigi’s folk-pop songs switching places at #1, but we also see Chappell Roan hit a new peak with “HOT TO GO!” at #5 and there’s a woman playing at least co-lead on every track here, as Abrams’ “I Love You, I’m Sorry” sticks to #4 and “APT.” by ROSÉ and Bruno Mars is down to #3. I’m not sure if that’s a significant stat considering the political climate, but it’s something. You know what’s not… women?

New Entries

#69 – “One by One” – Central Cee

Produced by Cash Cobain

Okay, let’s get the needed waffle out of the way: this was initially promoted with the live performance on A COLORS SHOW, which genuinely has so little distinctly different from the official version that it may have just assumed that role instead. This beat samples Bryson Tiller’s 2015 track “For However Long”, which itself cribs from Jodeci’s “Alone” from back in 1993. Neither were released as singles, and both in eras where that actually mattered, so they never charted. What I most want to acknowledge in this is the top one slizzer, the Slizzy God, Cash Cobain, finally making his official dent on the top 75 after having influenced Jordan Adetunji’s “KEHLANI” earlier this year. As briefly discussed in the review for that, sexy drill, slizzy drill, whatever you wish to deem it, is a niche subgenre pioneered by Cash and surrounding artists like Chow Lee, PoWR Trav, wolfacejoeyy, etc. out of New York and taking a more melodic, R&B-sampling approach to that city’s burgeoning drill music. The lyrics are sexual, the vocals are dripping wet with meek Auto-Tune, and the beats have a certain constant underlying tension to them due to the drum patterns and mostly shoddy mixing. This year has been big for the genre thanks mostly to “KEHLANI” and, ahem, “Grippy”, and I’ve become somewhat of a scholar just because it’s a fun scene with often recognisable samples and funny lines or deliveries that creep up on you on multiple listens because they’re not immediately obvious or practically mumbled. I for one have been hypnotised by Cash Cobain’s debut solo album, PLAY CASH COBAIN, practically since release.

One thing Cench definitely isn’t is subtle or saying anything you won’t notice on first listen, given his crass delivery, but that perfectly fits with the shoddy bass master and chipmunk sample, and he leaves a similar amount of empty space, given the lack of ad-libs originating from the fact it was originally published as a live performance, so it functions perfectly fine as a sexy drill song, and is actually enhanced and made unique by Cench’s presence, as his lyrics actually have genuine attempts at multisyllabic rhymes and clever wordplay, unlike most slizzy drillers who rely on comically autopilot sex raps, not that this is a bad thing, but Cench is also just really funny here! He threatens those who are tweeting at him to log out of their account whilst also saying that he bought the PS4 and scented candles to his trap to help make it “homely” which is hilarious… though I guess Cench can’t even get a PS5. He seems to be slightly disdained, but not particularly, about not being able to watch Disney Channel but SPECIFICALLY The Suite Life of Zack & Cody – I question if that’s much of a loss – and that is all in the chorus. It does help that Cench’s flow, whilst mostly the same throughout, brings a typically British mouthful to a genre that is otherwise “less is more”, whilst still shouting out New York, as well as comparing himself to Jason Derulo and… Tyga, saying he had “young money”… I’m not sure if even he is aware of the other meaning there because I’m not sure he would have kept the lyric in otherwise. My favourite part of the whole song, which feels not like a mockery of the genre but him being very ridiculous over it, is when he starts the second verse by just listing the weapons he would own not only if he didn’t live in the UK, but in different time periods, because if he lived in the Stone Age, he would have had a spear. Great. Thanks, Cench. This is the kind of humour and unique production I found appealing before he started to succumb to the pressure of trends and virality, and I’m glad to see it back even if briefly. Let’s hope he locks in on the album.

#47 – “Casual” – Chappell Roan

Produced by Dan Nigro and Ryan Linvill

I’ve long been frustrated with not really connecting to Chappell Roan’s singles from The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess that have charted, often for small nitpicks of reasons that have to do with the production or structure not functioning as well as they could to uphold the strong writing and a narrative connection I often resonated with or appreciated to some degree. I’m glad that this one has actually been the one to click really well. That could be found in the lighthearted conceit of it all that speaks to deeper issues: the comical framing of her hanging with a potential romantic partner in a more platonic way and asking at what point during their sexual and more wholesome intimacy is it still a casual and not long-term relationship? That all gathers, through a droopy 80s synth and gated drums, a wave of distrust and disappointment about her girlfriend’s lack of commitment, and as the descriptions of sex get more intense and vivid, as well as the mental health sacrifices Chappell’s making for her girlfriend’s family get revealed, the longing turns into a hateful frustration, a bitterness that arises in large part to the expectations Chappell has coming into a relationship that she acknowledges aren’t only unfounded but perhaps unrealistic, shaming herself for them in the second verse for giving into “dumb love”. It has a more reasonable and less unlikeable bitterness than “Good Luck, Babe!”, no production issues that deweight its impact like “Red Wine Supernova” and the writing actually progresses quite sensationally towards the outro, unlike the somewhat muddled “Pink Pony Club”, so I think aside from the dumb fun of “HOT TO GO!”, this is the first of hers to really stick with me, and definitely elevates above that song, even if the core conceit isn’t too dissimilar. If I had one issue, it’s that I get too connected with the narrative that the effective, disappointed self-blame hits too close and makes me want to hear much more about how this relationship actually ends. If that’s not effective songwriting, I don’t know what it is.

#33 – “Like Him” – Tyler, the Creator featuring Lola Young

Produced by Tyler, the Creator

Out of all songs from CHROMAKOPIA to swap out “Noid” with, I did not expect the late-album ballad, if anything I assumed we’d see one of the bangers, like “Rah Tah Tah” or especially “Sticky” with Sexyy Red, GloRilla and Lil Wayne. I’m not complaining though, because this is one of the best songs of the year, it’s heartbreaking and I cannot do it justice. It’s not all doom and gloom, of course, as Tyler inserts some comedy in it as always, whether it be the “huh?” he slides in from what sounds like a shoddily-EQ’d Baby Keem sample but I stand corrected if he actually went in the studio to record a few sounds, or the intro, wherein Tyler’s mother Bonita compares Tyler to his father, setting up the “Like Him” theme but also listing every point of comparison on his body before she gets cut off. That kind of bittersweet, slight ironic humour comes with the familial territory the song otherwise works in, with the track acting as a bit of a plea to Bonita: if he’s so like him, why doesn’t he know who he is, or where he is? Where is Tyler’s father in his life? It’s a question that T has been struggling with for much of his career with constant references and some full songs directed to his absence like “Answer”, which is particularly potent in retrospect considering this song is full of questions.

Starting with sombre pianos and a frail high-register performance from Tyler, who sings for all of the track, it eventually develops into a progressive soul track backed by harmonies from British singer Lola Young and a gorgeous soaring guitar in the back and the detailed soundscape you should expect from one of Tyler’s slow jams, that fuzzy synth coating in particular contrasting with the breathless gasps that appear all across the album. You also have the chorus accentuated with what sounds like Bonita herself chiming in with “Like what?”, acknowledging the role she played with the absence of Tyler’s father, which is expanded upon firstly in the second verse, wherein Tyler croons directly to her, with a great pause before he delves into how everything worked out and there may even be a sense of guilt there that Tyler is still on the hopeless chase for something he never had and won’t ever need – hence all the empty gaps left in the production. It resonates particularly hard for me, not that I’m in this specific situation, but as someone without a father figure in adulthood, I can relate to the idea of having something inexplicably missing there that you just kind of have to fill in for yourself. The most potent point is that incredible bridge, wherein Tyler stops the question at simply, “Do I look?”, asking his mother whether it’s worthwhile searching for either his father or that part of him that’s missing due to his absence, before a glance of piano and a vacant hole failingly filled in by Baby Keem pre-empting a wraparound of synths climaxing the song with utter defiance. In his third, improvised-sounding verse, spent mostly in the mix as backing vocals, he half-raps about his devotion to his mother but simultaneously, the insistence that he doesn’t “look like him”, because he’s everything HE wanted himself to be, and even with how abrupt Lola Young’s belting ends, you still get the time to chew on that dynamic… before that crushing outro, a home recording of his mother apologising for her involvement in keeping Tyler’s father out of his life, a plea from her for forgiveness over an off-tune bass note and cascading keys that really tugs at the heartstrings as someone who’s followed Tyler’s career and knows just how common and meaningful this topic is to him. Hell, it even wraps up the closure Tyler desperately seeks on the album, and leads into another banger in “Balloon” that, in many ways, is a middle finger to what a father figure could have brought into his life, that being restriction, tradition and hypermasculinity. Once again, it’s a brilliant song from a brilliant album, I wouldn’t be surprised if we get yet another switcheroo but I’d be delighted to have this one stick around. It is a wonder of a song.

#22 – “São Paulo” – The Weeknd and Anitta

Produced by The Weeknd, MIKE DEAN and Sean Solymar

Named after the Brazilian city that he premiered the track in, this new single with co-star Anitta, a massive singer in her own right in Latin America, is in some ways an embracing of Brazilian funk, which has been having a viral surge creeping up in the western world and having major influence on western artists now after years of it soundtracking the country’s cities. This song in particular is probably the widest western audience funk mandelão will ever get, and it’s not compromising either! It’s not as minimal as what you may hear from the genre, but it’s got the raw aggression of the rough cheap synths and the bass-heavy rumble manned by an oddly-mixed Anitta who, despite the genre being so in your face, feels about as far away from the party as possible even when you translate her stuttering, Auto-Tuned chanting to English and realise just how filthy it is. In fact, that’s my main problem with the song: as much as it embraces the genre, it seems way too distant as an overall piece from the actual fun, and sexiness, that this genre could be used for, with Abel on a murmuring autopilot once again – he sounds so sick of even opening his mouth this whole album cycle so far – and drenched in a reverb that echoes him out of the immediacy this production needs, with his sexual lyrics not prompting anything all too interesting either.

I like the chaotic sample brought in to an almost off-beat bridge but that all leads to what should be a promising second half… and ends up just trailing off. The Weeknd somehow ends up both robotic and out-of-breath – I’m not accusing it of being AI because it absolutely sounds human, but that’s also how I would describe what happens when you filter high-pitch vocals through AI and it gets all glitched out, losing breath, life and also clarity like Abel does here. I do enjoy the sly reference of the prostitute being “desensitised with money” and him needing to pay for his pleasure with work of his own, but outside of a burst into a drop that fails to really make much impact thanks to MIKE DEAN’s wankery souring the party, I’m unsure to what point any of the song’s second half serves that the first didn’t. It’s not the worst of his singles from this album so far, but it’s the one that tests your patience the most and honestly shows the most frustrating potential. Sadly, trying isn’t exactly on the agenda for the team behind this final album, and I hope the album gives me at least something to latch onto, unless, and I fear I might be correct, this is part of a narrative that involves losing interest in the “Weeknd” persona and shedding that baggage away. I suppose we’ll just have to see.

Conclusion

I suppose it has to get Worst of the Week, given that it’s the only dent on an otherwise above-average set of tracks this week, though Tyler, the Creator still blasts them all out of the water so he grabs Best of the Week easily with “Like Him” featuring Lola Young. As for the Honourable Mention, choose your gender, and as for what’s on the horizon… I don’t know, JLS? Who cares? Thank you for reading, rest in peace to Nipsey Hussle, and I’ll see you next week!

#pop music #song review #uk singles chart #chappell roan #tyler the creator #lola young #the weeknd #anitta #central cee #cash cobain #chromakopia

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youhaveforgottenmealready · 1 year ago

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The Man Who Killed Batman

I admit to being a little dismayed by the view I was seeing. I'm not precious by any stretch of the imagination, and my Pa would have lectured me until my ear fell off if he had seen me pull a face at somebody else's housekeeping, but this place needed some real T.L.C.

There were some attractive planters to the right and the remains of what must have been pretty flowers in pots arranged haphazardly, but the overall view of the grounds was a dismal one. I skirted around an overturned and rusting wheelbarrow, stepped over an abandoned rake, and made my way to the front door. The sign on the door almost made me turn and leave.

"No soliciting. No reporters or press. No autographs," I read aloud. The, "Huh," I added was because I'd never seen anything so unfriendly in my life.

Since I was a reporter — and even had a mint-condition copy of Detective Comics #50 in my bag I secretly hoped to have signed — I should probably have just turned tail and headed for the hills. But my Ma never raised a quitter.

I knocked twice, nice and loud. Then I noticed the actual state-of-the-art speaker system to the right of the door and felt a little foolish. I pushed the shiny white button and waited patiently. After an awkward minute, a voice came through the speaker.

"What do you want?" said a man's voice. I had a strange image of a curmudgeon shaking his fist at me and telling me to get off his lawn. The voice didn't sound old, exactly, but it certainly wasn't warm and welcoming.

"I'm Clark. Kent," I said. "I was hoping to speak to Bruce Wayne."

"Regarding?" The tone was ice-cold, and I felt like squirming like the time I'd had to interview a known drug lord.

"An interview. About Detective Comics. About the death of Batman."

There was a long pause before the voice returned with a snarled, "Sign says 'No reporters.' Can't you read?"

I ducked my head at the insult. But nobody had ever accused me of being a coward, or particularly on the ball when it comes to knowing when to back down. "I can, but can you?" I asked.

"Excuse me?" the voice snapped.

I was pushing my luck here, I knew. But nothing ventured, nothing gained.

"Well, it's just, if you could, you'd know how upset readers are. People have been writing letters to complain this whole week. Nobody understands the reason behind his sudden death. He's a beloved character, and this unexpected end to a popular story has upset fans. People want answers."

I may have overdone it because there was another long pause after my little speech that was just long enough I started to wonder if I'd been hung up on and left to stand on the stoop like a vacuum salesman.

At last, "Been practicing that?" was the sardonic reply.

I was half relieved and half embarrassed. It was funny to get called out like that, but still feel some sense of victory because I hadn't failed yet.

"Just a bit. Please. I work for the Daily Planet. We're a good, fair, paper. And, well, more importantly, I'm a fan."

It was a risk — for all I knew he hated his fans since he put 'No autographs' on the sign same as 'No reporters' — but I would feel dishonest if I left without sharing this.

I reached into my satchel and extracted my copy of Detective Comics #50. Holding it still felt like magic after all those years of finally finding it. Each time I get to relive what it felt like to hunt it down, follow the trail, and finally unearth it at a garage sale — some dumb girl desperate to raise enough money for a trip to New York that she'd sold all her dad's comics after he died.

I held it up before the camera. "This is my copy. It's my prized possession."

There was another long delay where I fought an anxious feeling that made me want to squirm.

Finally, the voice said, "I haven't seen a copy in years." There was something soft about the tone, almost nostalgic. Then the door buzzed and I heard the bolt slide back.

"Come in. Shoes off. Don't touch anything."

I exhaled and fought down the smile I felt curling up at the sides of my mouth. And then I stepped through the door.

*****

Started this a few years ago. This is what I put at the top of the doc:

For this story idea, Bruce is the creator of the Bat-Man comic book series. Then one day, without any explanation, he kills off the character. The death is quite final.

Clark Kent is sent to get the story from Bruce — why did he kill off a very popular character?

#batman #fanfiction #superman #exerpt from a story i'll never write #superbat #AU

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realblrr · 10 months ago

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I don't think so if i will find anyone here who is learning or reading about stock market...but i am currently reading a book by Sir Peter Lynch and sharing some simple points i found out...

Here are some pointers from this section:

• Understand the nature of the companies you own and the specific reasons for

holding the stock. (“It is really going up!” doesn’t count.)

• By putting your stocks into categories you’ll have a better idea of what to

expect from them.

• Big companies have small moves, small companies have big moves.

• Consider the size of a company if you expect it to profit from a specific

product.

• Look for small companies that are already profitable and have proven that their

concept can be replicated.

• Be suspicious of companies with growth rates of 50 to 100 percent a year.

• Avoid hot stocks in hot industries.

• Distrust diversifications, which usually turn out to be diworseifications.

• Long shots almost never pay off.

• It’s better to miss the first move in a stock and wait to see if a company’s plans

are working out.

• People get incredibly valuable fundamental information from their jobs that

may not reach the professionals for months or even years.

• Separate all stock tips from the tipper, even if the tipper is very smart, very

rich, and his or her last tip went up.

• Some stock tips, especially from an expert in the field, may turn out to be

quite valuable. However, people in the paper industry normally give out tips on drug stocks, and people in the health care field never run out of tips on the

coming takeovers in the paper industry.

• Invest in simple companies that appear dull, mundane, out of favor, and

haven’t caught the fancy of Wall Street.

• Moderately fast growers (20 to 25 percent) in nongrowth industries are ideal

investments.

• Look for companies with niches.

• When purchasing depressed stocks in troubled companies, seek out the ones

with the superior financial positions and avoid the ones with loads of bank

debt.

• Companies that have no debt can’t go bankrupt.

• Managerial ability may be important, but it’s quite difficult to assess. Base your

purchases on the company’s prospects, not on the president’s resume or

speaking ability.

• A lot of money can be made when a troubled company turns around.

• Carefully consider the price-earnings ratio. If the stock is grossly overpriced,

even if everything else goes right, you won’t make any money.

• Find a story line to follow as a way of monitoring a company’s progress.

• Look for companies that consistently buy back their own shares.

• Study the dividend record of a company over the years and also how its

earnings have fared in past recessions.

• Look for companies with little or no institutional ownership.

• All else being equal, favor companies in which management has a significant

personal investment over companies run by people that benefit only from

their salaries.

• Insider buying is a positive sign, especially when several individuals are buying

at once.

• Devote at least an hour a week to investment research. Adding up your

dividends and figuring out your gains and losses doesn’t count.

• Be patient. Watched stock never boils.

• Buying stocks based on stated book value alone is dangerous and illusory. It’s

real value that counts.

• When in doubt, tune in later.

• Invest at least as much time and effort in choosing a new stock as you would in

choosing a new refrigerator.

#keeplearning

#just some key points to remember #simple words #peter lynch #just reading some 📚#am a slow reader #working on my english language #heyaaaaaaaaa #reblog #kinda boring

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cjgladback · 11 months ago

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We have wings as of last week! And as of today they seem to work, after I had to reduce the range of the scotch yoke a bit to keep this fairly balanced shape without clipping through the horns. And while I was at it, we let the back legs do less of a high step and got that leggier shape I was wanting for them. I think all the major shapes are final now, just have to punch a few more holes for all the dowels since I decided to make it disassemble-worthy, and reduce the width of that yoke's lower slot now that it's on a smaller wheel.

Also, while the every-tenth-frame animation was rendering I did some real paper math (well, reusable paper at least) to check my assumptions that the wheel that's twice as tall will take twice as long to rotate. And almost said it wouldn't! Remember kids, math is dangerous and little mistakes can make you doubt relationships you intuited until you find the issue. Always let your calculator think for you and everything will be okay. (Or, y'know, your basic multiplication skills will erode until you make tons of mistakes like this. Pros and cons.)

Image descriptions got long again so they're under the cut, along with the gif of how our first proportions moved:

[ID: First image is a sequence of 3D renders of a work in progress mechanical dragon toy in orange, showing it gain a hinged tail, large head, and wings before the sizes of its wheels and the slots in a piece on its side adjust and a low frame rate animation begins, showing the way the wheel rotation will move the limbs. The front and back legs are articulated to "walk" with the wheel movement, the front leg on a small wheel causing it to move about 50% faster than the back. There is another set of wheels between the two, twice as large as the front set. This wheel raises the slotted piece with its rotation using a peg in the wheel through a horizontal slot while it's guided up two dowels through vertical slots. The wing rests on the top of this piece is pushed upward, rotating on its hinge in the middle of the back. Everything is mirrored on the far side of the dragon.

Second image is a page of handwritten algebra in green ink on an unlined six-ring notebook page. It starts with the equation for a circumference, C = 2 (pi) r, and asks the question "if (given three radius measurements) and we travel one centimeter, how much does each wheel rotate?" R sub 1 is 3cm, R sub 2 is 4.5cm, and R sub 3 is 6cm -- so R sub 3 is double R sub 1. Hand-multiplication follows, with the answer for C sub 1 now having a note with "oops" and the digit 4 written over the mistaken second decimal 0. A longer note reads, "if I'm dumb and just used the diameter for each instead of the radius...each should just be the result (times) 0.5." The results cut in half are written down. C sub 1 is missing the second decimal place it would have with the corrected numbers from the first multiplication, now with a note "wait!" pointing to it. "So rotation in degrees should be a ratio between travel & C." This note is expressed as an equation, delta over C is equal to X over 360 degrees. 360 delta degrees over C is equal to X. Given delta is equal to 1cm, there follow three solutions for X using each of the circumferences found, then X sub 3 is multiplied by two. Initially that result had a second decimal place of 1 where X sub 1 had 9. To the side is an non-equation X sub 1 is not equal to 2 X sub 3, with a sad face. Written vertically is the formula X is equal to 360 delta degrees over diameter pi; this is simplified to the approximation X is equal to 114.59156 times delta degrees over diameter. Changes in the diameter should be inversely proportional to changes in X. The first solution for X sub 1 is lined through with an arrow to one with the corrected circumference value, which matches 2 X sub 3. The earlier non-equation is crossed out as well; the equation X sub 1 is equal to X sub 3 is followed by an exclamation point and a smiley face.

End ID]

[ID: Animated gif of the dragon toy in a brown matcap, wings and legs moving with the wheels. The wheels are not spinning at a constant rate because their rotation mode hasn't been set to Axis Angle yet, the back "knee" joint raises to higher than the middle back, and the middle of the front arches of the wings travel into the middle of their respective sides' horn by the top of their rotation. End ID]

#dragon roll #cj gladback #wip animation #3d wip #blender #dragon #toy

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beauty-and-passion · 1 year ago

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Beau! Hello! How are you doing?

Hi! :D It's so nice to see you again! I really missed our conversations, can't wait for more of them to come soon! <3

This summer has been pretty busy for me. I studied almost every day - but it's summer, it's hot and my will to study was below zero, so I skipped a few days here and there, did other things, studied in the morning only and so on. Still no idea about the results, but when I get them, I will let you know :)

In the meantime, I still enjoyed my time by doing other stuff, like:

Cleaning

I love organizing things and since I finally had some time, I took the chance to:

Write a full inventory of the garage/storeroom where my family has been accumulating stuff for years

Buy a couple new storage racks for my apartment and move some furniture around. Still not over, but it's an improvement

Also, since my mother finally realized that yes, we have a lot of stuff indeed and we can rid of some of it, we went on a cleaning spree and cleaned:

The woodshed which had everything inside except for wood. There was even a sewing table!

The front garden of my house and that meant removing a shit ton of plants because my mother decided it was a great idea to plant them all together. She literally put two palm trees inside the vineyard. Those have been hard to tear down, but when me and my brother finally did it, the satisfaction was immense

We still have to move some stuff and properly clean the storeroom, but we have to wait for my uncle first: once he takes some furniture away, we will be free to keep going.

Keeping healthy

Since I went to the gastroenterologist and he told me to change my diet, I lost 7kg immediately and I feel WAY better. But it's still not enough: I plan to lose 7 more kilos, just to be in perfect health and to keep being healthy, even if I gain a couple kilos back in the future.

In order to do that, I kept (and try to keep) a schedule made of:

walking at least 6000 steps every day

spending at least one hour doing exercises and yoga 5 days a week

following the healthier diet suggested by the doctor, which is made of fresh fish and meat, fresh vegetables, almost no bread, gluten-free pasta, rice, couscous, no milk and no processed products. It was hard the first few days, now I feel bad when I don't follow this plan. I don't miss junk food and I still allow myself a treat once in a while. Also, since I am lazy, I cook once a day and double the amount, so I can eat for dinner and have a meal ready for the next day's lunch. This way, I'm always covered and I don't feel like resorting to junk/fast food (I also got rid of everything unhealthy, so it would be impossible anyway).

trying to get a better sleeping schedule: my alarm clock is set at 7:50 every day except for the weekends and I allow myself to get a 1-hour-long nap in the early afternoon. I also try to go to sleep around midnight, but still end up sleeping at 1am, so there's still room for improvement.

Writing

Studying was hard, but writing has always been great. And when I can have a schedule, it's even better :D

I started with two hours, every day. Right after dinner, when my mind was still fresh - and the weather gets cooler too. Then, around 10pm, I move on the couch and watch a few YouTube videos, before going to bed.

Some days, I didn't want to write a single line and had to force myself to write at least for one hour. But there were also days in which I wrote one or two hours more than planned. And now, I can write a few hours in the morning too and that means double productivity! :D Also, after sitting for so long in front of a screen, the exercise session in the late afternoon is even more enjoyable.

Small trips

I couldn't allow myself to take a longer breaks this summer. And that means I won't be able to visit Greece, so I took small trips to my uncle's farm and 1-day long trips to a few places.

In July, I visited Gaeta and Sperlonga (Italy). Those are two beautiful towns between Rome and Naples, with wonderful clean sea and beautiful sights. Sperlonga was especially cute, because the oldest part of the city is on a hill, so there are a ton of narrow streets, white-painted walls, corners decorated with seashells and painted tiles, tiny stairs and little plazas. It was nice.

In August, I visited Rovinj (Croatia): that's another little town, with a wonderful green sea. While we were there, we took a boat trip and visited the nearby fjord and wow, it was just like a postcard from a Norwegian fjord. And the trip was very enjoyable too: the boat owner offered us drinks and gave us interesting insights about what we were seeing.

I have two more trips planned for the next week: a water park tomorrow and a small cruise trip next week. Then, nothing else for now. Maybe will do something for Christmas and even New Year, but we'll see what offers we can find.

What about you?

What did you do these months? How did you spend your summer? How are you spending these last few days of August? And do you like to sleep as much as my cats like it?

#beauty talks about stuff #life update #seriously these two have the best life #play eat sleep and be cute #ask #I hope your summer was at least half as enjoyable as these two enjoy it XD

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